Forged Love
by Sonata Appassionata
Summary: Silena and Charlie, the ones that were and the ones that could have been. Thirty drabbles dedicated to this awesome pair, written for PJFC's Thirty Days, Thirty Fics boot camp. Cover art belongs to Viria. I own nothing.
1. Chapter 1

**Prompt 1: Fraternize**

* * *

"What are you doing, _fraternizing_ with those Hephaestus boys anyway?"

"Come on, don't _fraternize_ with people who'll never be good enough for you."

"Pretty, pretty Silena _fraternizing_ with those gross boys. Have you lost your mind?"

Silena shot to her feet and glared at her giggling, teasing siblings.

"Glad you learned a new word," she said cooly. "I'm impressed."

Drew rolled her eyes. Jessica giggled dramatically. Courtney clapped in mock applause.

"Really, Silena," Jessica said, lowering her voice conspiratorially. "What do you see in him?"

Everything, Silena thought. Strength. Will. Determination. Courage. A good heart. Everything that she admired.

Of course, she wouldn't waste her time trying to explain it to her siblings.

"You wouldn't understand," she sighed. "There's much more to him than just his looks."

At which, a room full of Aphrodite girls stared at Silena in disbelief. Calmly, Silena got up and exited through the open door.

Later that day, as Charles took both of Silena's hands and dragged her to look at one of his new projects in the forges, Silena could not help feeling like the luckiest girl on earth. Charlie just had that effect on her. With his smile, she felt special and loved, someone worth hanging on to.

A total opposite to what she felt with her siblings.

Yes, Silena thought. She would _fraternize_ with this gorgeous, talented son of Hephaestus. And no one, not her siblings, not anyone, was going to stop her.

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	2. Proton

**Prompt 2: Proton**

* * *

An atom consists of three substances: protons, neutrons, and electrons. A neutron was neutral, carrying little or no electrical charge. An electron carried a negative electrical charge, and a proton carried a positive one to balance it out.

These facts were at the tips of Charles' fingers. He was a son of Hephaestus, of course.

Still, aside from chemistry, Charles liked to think about his life this way too.

Sometimes, Charles just felt like there were so many, too many negative, negative electrons in his life of neutral appearance and confidence.

His mother's death three years back, for example, that still rattled him now. She had been the only one to care for him, to accept him for who and what he was. Then boom. A chunk of falling masonry. And she was gone.

Charles' father never cared. His father never did anything to help, even though he had all the means to, as Charles had learned upon arrival of Camp. He just sat on his throne on Olympus, high and mighty, leaving Charles to fend for himself.

Charles tried to do his best every step of the way. His life was spent trying to impress people, to not let them down - his cabin mates who looked up to him, his fellow campers who relied on him. There was always no space for failure, and the trouble was that he wasn't confident in holding everything in place. Just one wrong move, and everything would come crumbling.

Then Silena came.

Silena with her dark hair that rippled in the wind, and her intense blue eyes and sunlit smile.

Silena who changed everything.

Silena, the one and only positive, positive proton, the sunlight in Charles' life, that balanced out every single bit of those negativity.

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**Review? :3 **

**Chapter 3 will be up soon, and it will be called Snapshots :)**


	3. Snapshots

**Prompt 3: Snapshots**

* * *

They said that when you die, your life flashes before your eyes.

Beckendorf does not see his life, he sees Silena.

* * *

Silena walks beside him, staring in wonder at the cabins as Charles shows her round the camp.

"Wow," she breathes. "Wow!"

She's pretty, Charles decides. With her smooth brown hair and sparkling eyes, she's beautiful. Her voice is nice too. Charles wants to hear more.

* * *

Silena rides on a Pegasus and swoops over him, laughing as her hair flies behind her, and Charles immediately feels clumsy and awkward next to her easy grace.

As she goes past, she takes his hand and slows down. Smiling gently, she begins to patiently correct his posture.

"You hooked your leg wrong. Hold it like this... yup, that's right. Straighten your back too, just be more confident and you'll be fine."

Pretty AND nice. Charles can't keep his eyes off her.

* * *

The fireworks explode above them as Charles finally takes Silena into his arms and presses a kiss to her flawless lips.

The world melts away. At that moment, no one in the world existed apart from Charles and the beautiful girl in his arms.

* * *

Silena chases him through the strawberry patches, laughing, sunlight lighting up her face. Charles throws her a grin and catches her as she reaches him, throwing her into the air with a shout of glee.

That afternoon, Charles knows true happiness.

* * *

Silena's face smiles up at him from the photograph, and Charles takes a deep breath as the descend on the Princess Andromeda. He will survive this mission. He will have to.

If not for himself, then for Silena. His love, the most precious thing on earth.

* * *

And as the fire erupts around him, as the fear clots his senses, as his body is torn into shreds with the force of the explosion, Silena's face flashes through Charles' vision. Snapshots of things that once were things that used to be, things that might still have been.

And suddenly Charles is no longer afraid. He knows what to do.

* * *

_I will wait for you, Silena,_ he silently thinks one last time. _No matter how long it takes._


	4. Nursemaid

**Prompt 4: Nursmaid**

**Eh, this is quite a random thing that I cooked up in time for today. Hope you like it though!**

* * *

"It's just a cough, Silena," Charles mumbled.

"You're burning up!"

"I'm f-fine! Silena I -"

"You're coughing again! Lie still while I go get a healer."

Silena smoothed a wet cloth over Charles' forehead and anxiously ran outside, looking for some Apollo camper who happened to be around.

No such luck. The Apollo campers were at archery class, and Chiron was busy in his study. Silena spun on her heal. What should she do now? She could of course wait for the Apollo kids to finish their class, but Charlie was ill. Charlie was ill. She had felt the heat of his forehead with her own hands.

She had no idea when the Apollo kids would finish their class. She did not want to wait either.

She considered just barging into their lesson, then decided against it. She didn't like the thought of her, a weaponless Aphrodite girl, facing a whole group of annoyed and very talented archers who happened to be armed with bows.

She ran back inside and sat down beside Charlie's bed, taking hold of his hand. He was dozing lightly now, occasional snuffling in his sleep. Silena anxiously checked his temperature again, and went to fetch another cool cloth.

"Get well soon, Charlie," she whispered, kissing his forehead, fingers drumming anxiously. "I really really hate seeing you sick, you know?"

After two hours or so, the Apollo kids returned from their class. Silena headed outside, relief breaking across her face.

"Michael!" she cried. "Lee! Please! I need help!"

Lee Fletcher placed a hand on Charles' forehead, and dribbled nectar into his mouth. Slowly, Charlie opened his eyes.

"How're you feeling?" Lee asked.

Charlie coughed a little. "Head feels weird. But otherwise fine."

Lee grinned. "Great. You didn't even need our help. Just a drop of nectar and that nursemaid of a girlfriend and you'll be fine."


	5. Smitten

**Smitten**

* * *

The first boy Silena Beauregard had been smitten with was, of course, Will Solace, who had attended the same middle school as Silena.

Will was nice and handsome, and extremely understanding too. He seemed to be the only person who didn't judge her for getting kicked out of three different schools in the past five years.

Naturally, Silena fell hard.

Soon enough though, they got to Camp Half Blood. Will got claimed almost immediately, and cheerfully went off with his siblings. Slowly, he started spending more time with them and less and less with Silena.

Disappointment washed over Silena, and soon, her feelings for him died down to a mere polite, platonic interest.

* * *

The second boy who had caught Silena's eye was Luke Castellan.

Luke was clever and talented, and devilishly handsome. Girls fawned over him everywhere, including Silena's giggling siblings. Silena herself wouldn't deny it - she had spent a good many hours hiding behind the doors of the arena, swooning at his well-muscled arms as he trained.

Apart from this, Luke also had that air of mystery and pain about him, marked by that thick jagged scar on his face. Silena longed to find out about his past, but every time she brought up the subject around him, he pointedly turned away.

Then she found out about his history and past relationship with the legendary Thalia Grace, a relationship that still nagged at him every moment now.

Then he gave her that scythe charm.

Silena would never look at this bitter, treacherous snake the same way ever again.

* * *

The next boy that caught Silena's admiration was, of course, Percy Jackson.

Not that he knew anything about it.

His eyes sparkled with innocence and hope, and Silena as inexorably drawn to him - to his will, his bravery, his sense of humor. She liked the cute way he smiled, with that little dimple in his cheek and his sea-green eyes sparkling softly. Besides, even her siblings approved.

She watched as he returned from his quests, successful and victorious, as always. She watched him as he swam by himself in the lake, the water bending around him like the most natural thing in the world. She didn't try to make a move on him, though. It just seemed... _weird_.

Then she watched as he got closer and closer with Annabeth Chase.

And she turned away, because Percy and Annabeth were meant to be. And she, of course, couldn't be one to interfere.

* * *

And then, Charles Beckendorf walked into her life.

He wasn't the type of person that Silena would have easily noticed. He wasn't that much of a looker, and liked to spend most of his time with his head buried in his projects. Still, his presence had the secure sort of firmness and _thereness_ that Silena had grown to admire.

It took a while for her to share a proper conversation with him. He was a little shy, and plenty awkward, but Silena could sense the warmth from him, the feeling of gentle curiosity mixed in with a little confusion and admiration. She liked the sweet way he tried to help her into a seat, and the awkward, fumbling way he extended his hand out to her.

And oh, his hands. The warm, calloused hands that could make anything, _do_ anything. The arms strong enough to lift her into the sky.

Silena knew that this time was different. It was an Aphrodite thing. This time, she wasn't just _smitten_. She was properly, truly, _madly_, in love.

Because this time, it was not Silena who went out to find love. It was love who had found her.

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Please review!


	6. Mercy Killing

**Prompt 6: Mercy Killing**

**Sorry for the late chapter! Ugh. School. **

* * *

What was she thinking.

She didn't stand a chance.

She would _die_.

It was suicide.

Self murder. It was what the Aphrodite kids called it. Ending your own life was cruel and disgusting. Choosing to charge into battle, knowing that you would die was just as bad. Either way you would have to give up your beauty. Give you your life. Give up all that was worth it.

But what made them so, nauseatingly sure that _this_ was what was worth it? Her siblings - their lives were just makeup and designer bags, gossiping and flirting. Silena had nothing. Nothing but quagmires of guilt and the desolations of emptiness to meander through when the sun that set would never rise again.

_Charlie_.

Silena took a deep breath.

Armor straps were pulled with shaking fingers. Buckles were done.

Where was a proper jar of nail polish remover when she really needed one?

Maybe it wouldn't have to end this way. Maybe she could survive this.

Her knuckles turned white.

No. She couldn't. _A live drakon, Silena?_ She couldn't let that spark of hope rise. It would turn into a forest fire that would eventually tear her down.

One ah or another, it was self murder.

Charlie would know what to do, she thought. Charlie could defeat anything. Charlie could do anything.

_Charlie_.

She was going, yes. And she wasn't coming back.

She didn't stand a chance.

Besides, what was left for her here?

Self murder, her siblings voices chimed in her head. Self murder.

* * *

The poison was searing her face, her chest, her very _body _wason fire.

But it didn't matter.

She saw her friends faces above - Clarisse, Percy, Annabeth, Grover... Beautiful, fantastic, _amazing_ friends whose arms she could die in.

Ah, at least, that was better.

So she had to let them know, had to tell them.

And she opened her palm.

And briefly Silena imagined the singing in Elysium, the breezes and the honeysuckle.

She exhaled.

* * *

There was supposed to be one more face gazing back at her. The one she most wanted to see with a dull throb.

And she was going to see it.

Charlie.

And the sunrise that spilled through the sky in heaven and gold, lighting him up from behind.

* * *

Really, it wasn't self murder.

To Silena, it was mercy killing.

_See Charlie..._

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**Please review!**


	7. Inexorable

**Prompt 7: Inexorable**

**Been feeling angsty these days. Blame the freaking Lord of the Rings soundtrack. Howard Shore's a genius. Hope you like this fic!**

* * *

It is inexorable.

The greatest feasts all have to end.

The fullest moon will have to wane.

But nothing makes it easier to bear.

* * *

It comes in shades of grey. Ghosts that whisper in Silena's ear and lay their hands gently on her back, smoothing her hair back. Shades that drift in through the open window and seep into her heart.

Charlie's hair falls over his face as he picks up a dandelion for Silena, gently threading it through her hair. She smiles and throws her arms around his neck, breathing in this picture perfect moment.

Then it drifts away, a black and white photograph floating away through the grey wind and silent rain.

The dandelion soon dies.

(Inexorable.)

* * *

Silena dreams of him. His touch, his voice, his breath.

Always clothed in those shades of grey that ooze into her heart.

There is no ache. Not even pain. Just a solid block of emptiness festering in her chest that blocks out the tears when she so needs them to come.

So she bites and scratches and claws, trying to get that thing out, but it never works.

And Silena wakes up to ebbing, sticky sweetness and surreal motions as the world blurs and burns.

It is all her undoing. All her fault.

It had been under her control, just for a crucial moment. And she had done the wrong thing.

So what that followed... had followed. And she no longer had the control anymore to stop it.

* * *

She should have known it was coming, after all. Through those sunlit times and laughter, she should have registered that she and Charles can never be forever.

The idea of death had seemed so far away. It won't happen so soon. It's non of her concern yet.

But they're demigods. Demigods die young.

Even brave, beautiful demigods like Charlie.

Silena was just left to wander the marshes of dying trees and open dusk, alone with the spirits.

* * *

It is inexorable.

The greatest feasts all have to end.

The fullest moon will have to wane.

And Charlie and Silena will have come to a close.

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Please review!


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